Investigation: Invertebrates I
In your teams, you will investigate 4 major phyla of invertebrates. Working as a team, each student will make a trading card of one representative organism from each of the 4 phyla (4 cards each).

Four Phyla to be investigated:
  1. Sponges (phyla Porifera)
  2. Cnidarians (phyla Cnidaria): Jellyfish, hydra, coral, etc
  3. Flatworms (phyla Platyhelminthes): Planaria, polychaetes, tapeworm, etc
  4. Roundworms (phyla Nematoda): hookworms, pinworms, Ascaris, etc

Required elements for trading cards:
4 2-sided trading cards (each is ¼th the size of A4 size paper)
Front of card:
Large mug shot(s) (picture or drawing) of your representative organism
Your name and date: small type in bottom right corner
Back of card:
Small mug shots (picture or drawing); should only take up ¼ or less of the backside
Common and/or scientific names of representative organism
Classification (Taxonomy): Name of Phylum
General description of the phyla (one sentence)
List three other example organisms that belong to each of the phyla
Common (shared) characteristics of each phylum
The number of shared characteristics per phyla you should find: Sponges (5), Cnidaria (4), Flatworms (4), Roundworms (2), and Segmented Worms (3)
Body Plan- These may be included in your common characteristics
What type of symmetry?
How many tissue layers?
What type of digestive cavity?
What type of body cavity?
MRS. NERG: The following life processes must be included for each phylum…
Movement: all phyla
Reproduction (must be detailed!): all phyla
o Describe how they reproduce
o Describe some advantages and disadvantages of how they reproduce
Sensitivity: Cnidarians only
Nutrition: all phyla
Excretion: optional
Respiration: all these phyla use diffusion
Growth: optional
Habitat: where do they live?
At least one interesting fact about each phyla or representative organism
Bonus: Ecological importance of each phyla
Bonus: describe any key evolutionary adaptations observed in each phyla

The following resources will get you started:
Ø Start with your Science Textbook!
Ø PBS The Shape of Life: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/animals/index.html